Royal Oak police step up enforcement on Woodward cruisers

This sign outside a flower and fireworks vendor location on Woodward near Normandy in Royal Oak sums up how most business owners feel about Woodward cruisers parking in their lots.
MICHAEL P. McCONNELL-DAILY TRIBUNE

Jay Harbin of Berkley gets out of his 1960 Chevy Impala at the Shell gas station on Woodward south of Normandy, a business that is friendly to cruisers and lets them park in station’s lot. MICHAEL P. McCONNELL-DAILY TRIBUNE

Classic car owner Jay Harbin, 81, of Berkley understands the early cruisers who like to hit Woodward well in advance of the Dream Cruise to show off their vehicles — and sometimes their horsepower.

“When I was young I used to like to go out there and race from light to light,” he said after he parked his blue 1960 Chevy Impala in the Shell gas station lot near Normandy and Woodward. “As far as the guys squealing their tires and making noise, the police can calm them down. They can catch them and write them a ticket. Tickets are expensive.”

Royal Oak police have been doing just that, especially between Thursdays and Saturdays, as the number of cruisers keeps growing.

But Royal Oak Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue said in a statement that the biggest issue his officers deal with is not reckless driving but large groups of car owners gathering in business parking lots near Woodward and Normandy.

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“Only one business, the Shell gas station, encourages cruisers to congregate,” O’Donohue said. “Every other business along Woodward discourages the cruisers because they interfere with … business, disrupt the surrounding neighborhoods and leave debris” in parking lots.

Royal Oak Police logged 117 calls on complaints about cruisers between April and June 23. Police officers made all but 17 of the complaints based on first-hand observation.

During the same period officers wrote 91 tickets.

Ground zero for evening cruisers is the Normandy Plaza strip mall, which includes Potbelly’s Restaurant. Car enthusiasts like to congregate and the plaza — much to the annoyance of business owners — attracts them the way drive-in restaurants did in an earlier era. Many of the cars that owners park at Normandy Plaza are foreign imports, customized street machines whose engines emit a high-pitched whine.

The first cruising related complaint of the season was made March 28 when a Royal Oak officer spotted 30 vehicles parked outside Potbelly’s and police advised the cruisers to leave, police said.

“The Normandy Plaza is a regular problem because the cruisers may frequent a business and assume a cup of coffee entitles them to sit in the lot all evening,” O’Donohue said.

The police department has increased staffing on its afternoon shift from Wednesday through Saturday to deal with parking and reckless driving issues. Whenever staffing permits, a police supervisor is also assigned to Woodward Avenue to oversee the handling of complaints.

Roughly a dozen businesses have granted power of attorney to the police so that officers can issue parking tickets or have vehicles towed.

O’Donohue believes police efforts have kept cruising problems from getting out of control and said he will adjust the number of officers assigned to afternoon shifts as needed.

“But we have not been able to completely resolve the issue,” he said. “Our efforts are focused on enforcing driving violations, discouraging disorderly activity and protecting the rights of private businesses.”

The owner of the Shell station that welcomes cruisers is Sam Bahoora. His openness is good for his business, said Chris Kado, a clerk at the station.

“A little while ago (Detroit Tigers pitcher) Justin Verlander drove through our lot in a Lamborghini,” Kado said. “We get all kinds of people up here. It’s good relations with all the customers.”

Most classic American car owners are middle-age or older and seldom if ever engage in reckless driving, Harbin said.

But there was a time when hitting the road for a night in an overpowered gas guzzler and checking out the street action was an American rite of passage for young men.

“Some people may be annoyed by it now,” Harbin said. “But a lot of them were doing the same thing earlier in their lives.”